1. Understanding the purpose of your first blog post
OK, first things first, I need to bust a common myth!
Many new bloggers think their first post should be some kind of ‘welcome’ or ‘introduction’ – maybe a bit about themselves and why they’re starting the blog.
While this was the norm in the early days of blogging, it’s not how blogging works these days.
Blogging is not an online diary! Successful blogs are built around creating valuable, helpful content that solves specific problems for their readers.
Instead of an introduction post, your first blog posts should be foundation posts – content that:
- Introduces the key topics you’ll write about.
- Begins building topical authority in your niche.
Here’s how to approach your foundation posts:
- Decide your main categories: What are the key topics your blog will cover? These will become your blog’s main categories and be the focus of your foundation posts. When you are first starting out it’s best to pick 3-4 main categories to start with – you can always add in others later once you have established topical authority in your first 3-4 categories.
- Do keyword research: Use a tool like KeySearch to find low-competition keywords for each category.
- Pick one keyword per category: Choose one keyword per category to be your ‘foundation’ post for that category. These will be the first 3-4 posts you will write.
- Choose which of these foundational posts you will start with: Once you have chosen your 3-4 ‘foundation’ post topics, all you need to do is pick which one you will start with! It doesn’t really matter which you pick, so I recommend choosing whichever one you think will be easiest and/or most fun to write!
By starting with these strategic ‘foundation’ posts, you’ll give search engines (and your readers!) a clear idea of what your blog is about.
Save the ‘why I’m writing this blog’ type content for your About Me page, where it’s more relevant!
READ MORE >>> What is a blog and how does it work? Blogging explained!
2. Deciding what to include in your first blog post
Once you’ve chosen the topic of your first post and the main keyword you are planning to target, it’s time to figure out what to include in that post.
The best way to do that is to put yourself in your reader’s shoes. Imagine someone has typed the keyword you are targeting into Google…
Who are they?
Why did they type that search term into Google?
What problem are they trying to solve?
Now think about everything you need to say in order to help your target reader solve their problem. Write all of this down in note form.
Once you have noted down everything you want to cover, re-order your notes into a logical order. Keep firmly in mind that the main aim of your blog post is to solve your reader’s problem… so think about what order would best help them!